Half of Russian Drugs is Imported

Over 50% of drugs is imported to Russia from overseas, Head of the Drug-Enforcement Office of the Control and Methodical Department of the Russian Interior Ministry Investigation Committee Colonel Victor Panfilov said at an Interior Ministry briefing.

According to him, hard drugs are imported from the neighboring countries. "90% of heroin is brought from Afghanistan and Tajikistan," he stressed.

Today's drug market in Russia is hard drugs oriented, with heroin and opium dominating it, Panfilov said. The prices for such drugs have doubled, he added.

The colonel noted that recently the international drug crime had been increasingly spreading across Russia. New synthetic drugs import channels have been detected in the Baltic states.

Panfilov added that all the drug gangs operating in Russia are ethnic-based.